Screams in the Night
by AriannaCastellis1
Summary: A mysterious scream in the night heralds the death of a visitors in a small town. Can Sam and Dean find out what is causing the screams, or will they become victims themselves?
1. Chapter 1

Title: Screams in the night

Author: Arianna Castellis

Spoilers: Up to Wendigo

Rating: T (or PG-13)

Disclaimer: Supernatural belongs to WB. I'm making no money off this, which is sad because I have none.

A/N: Unbetaed. If anyone is interested in helping with this, please drop me a line ;)

Please read and review!

Screams in the Night 

Chapter One

Durant, Oklahoma was hot. Whoever said it was a dry heat didn't know what they were talking about. Of course, anyone who talked about the waving wheat also didn't have a clue. It may be true in the northern parts of the state, but here in the south, it was a muggy hot summer.

Summer Stock at the Oklahoma Shakespeare Festival had started out with a thunderstorm every evening and one tornado that had gone by near the town in the first week. But ever since that stormy night, the air had hung hot and humid without even a hint of breeze. Nate knew things were bad when it only got down to 90 degrees during the night. But at least the scene shop was air-conditioned.

Nate lay awake in his dorm room bed. It wasn't the worst job he'd had during summer stock, but it certainly wasn't one of the best. The weather was only one part of the frustration. The actors and technicians had gotten off to a bad start this season and hadn't improved in the month they had been here. The next three months were looking like they were going to be tough ones.

_And they're going to be even tougher if I don't get some sleep_. Nate closed his eyes and tried to relax, thinking instead of the music wars he and his boys were having with the prop girls in the shop under his. Maybe tomorrow would be the day to start playing some of John's heavy metal. That should stump Sara in what to play back. Grinning to himself, he began to drift off…

Nate shot up in bed as he heard an awful scream. It sounded like it was coming from down the hall. He rushed to his door, wrenching it open to look out into the deserted hallway. He saw no one in the hall, only heard the echoing silence that seemed deafening after the noise from before.

He closed the door, willing his heart to stop pounding. "It was only a dream, Nate," he tried to convince himself. "You shouldn't have had that last beer after work." As he tried to calm down, he thought he saw something fly by his window. He rushed to the window looking out, but saw nothing. _Only a bat or a bird_, he thought to himself. But as he lay down again, trying desperately to think of something, anything, other than what he had heard and seen, he knew deep in his heart that that wasn't the case.

& & & & &

Nate was working hard to the sounds of an Irish jig. Sara has countered the heavy metal from that morning with something completely different. He smiled to himself. Only Sara could get away with blasting Celtic music and not have the scene shop guys storm downstairs to turn it off.

John came in the front door and Nate looked up. "No sign of Chris?" he asked.

The other tech shook his head. "No answer in his room and I even got old Snaggletooth to open the door. No sign of him."

Nate shrugged. "I guess we do without him today. But it not like Chris to skip work."

"No, but maybe Chris ended up making nice with one of the actors and feel asleep in her room last night. He'll show up by dinner time at the latest."

Nate nodded and got back to work. There was too much to do to track down a late techie. A few hours later, he would wish he'd taken the time.

& & & & &

The entire cast and crew for the OSF was called into the main stage area later that afternoon. The Technical Director and Director were deep in discussion as they waited for everyone to have a seat. The Director, Dennis, spoke first.

"Everyone, we've called you together this afternoon because we have some bad news."

Nate felt his heart sink at the words. Somehow he knew it was going to be bad.

"One of the scene shop technicians, Chris, was found dead a few hours ago out by the lake. He had been attacked by some wild animals." The auditorium filled with whispers. Dennis held up his hands. "Now, I know this is something that is hard to take. And I know the scene shop especially will feel this loss badly, but the show _must_ go on. Anyone in theatre knows it's true. No matter what else may happen."

Nate tuned Dennis out as he continued with his empty words of encouragement. Nate knew something was off. This was southern Oklahoma. There wasn't anything near the lake that could kill a person…was there? Nate had the sinking feeling he hadn't heard the last of this.

A week later, Nate knew he was right. Once again the cast and crew were brought together, this time to inform them that Stacy, one of the lead actresses had been attacked by wild animals out by the lake. As the staff told them no one was allowed to go drking by the lake anymore, Nate could only think of the inhuman scream he'd heard near his window the night before.

& & & & &

Sam entered the motel room with breakfast for him and Dean. Dean was watching the news, seemingly caught up in the story. He took the coffee from Sam without even looking up. Sam picked up his father's diary, trying to fathom where they should go next. Until they had another evil creature to hunt, he was going to try and decipher any notes that may be hidden within the pages.

Once the newscaster signed off, Dean looked over at his younger brother. "I think we need to go to Oklahoma."

Sam looked up surprised. "You think a couple of kids getting killed by wild animals out in the middle of nowhere is connected to us?"

"Anything weird is connected to us," Dean said with a smirk. At Sam's glare, he continued. "There has never been a report of wild animals in that area before this summer. Now in the last 5 weeks, three people have been killed at the lake. This lake has been a local hangout for years and no one's ever died there."

"I'm still not convinced."

"Every summer they have summer stock in the college in Durant."

"Summer Stock?"

"Yeah, you know where they do theatre shows for the summer. Anyway, this year the three people who have been killed have all been involved with the summer stock. Not one of them has been from town."

"Okay. I guess it does sound a bit strange."

"Come on," coaxed Dean. "You know I've got a nose for these things."

"Yeah, well, you've also go a nose for beautiful girls and that's never worked out well for you," retorted Sam.

Dean glared and tackled Sam to the ground. "You don't know what you're talking about." After a quick tussle, the boys finally collapsed on the ground. "What do you say, bro?"

"I say we should go to Oklahoma."

TBC

Let me know what you think. It's a little tough to write a story when you don't know a whole lot about the characters, but I just love the show too much. ;)


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Screams in the night

Author: Arianna Castellis

Spoilers: All episodes

Rating: T (or PG-13)

Disclaimer: Supernatural belongs to WB. I'm making no money off this, which is sad because I have none.

A/N: Unbetaed. If anyone is interested in helping with this, please drop me a line ;)

Please read and review! Notes to reviewers at end of chapter.

Chapter Two

Sam and Dean took stock of their surroundings. They were staying in the only motel in Durant. The town wasn't quite a one-stoplight town, but it was close. Not for the first time, Dean wished an evil SOB would pick a decent sized town to stalk. Small towns always seemed to notice strangers.

"There's the auditorium," Sam pointed to a building sitting alone on one side of the highway. Then he pointed across the street. "And there's the school. According to the woman at the front desk, the people for summer stock stay in the dormitories during the summer. The scene shop is also at the school."

Dean looked at the newspaper printouts he held. "The first person to disappear worked in the scene shop." He and Sam made their way back to their hotel room.

"Yeah. The second was an actress. Both of them have been replaced for the season, but the third victim was an extra that they have decided not to replace."

"He was also the only victim not killed at the lake," Dean commented. Sam looked over his shoulder. "It says here that he was found on the outskirts of town. Someone was throwing a party for the staff and Dave was walking back to the dorms. His body was found the next morning."

"So whatever is killing these people is not connected to the lake?"

"Apparently not. So, no lake monster for you this time, either."

Sam ignored him as he turned on his computer, showing his research into Durant's past. "There hasn't been any record of anything happening in Durant like this in the past 50 years."

"That's odd. There's almost always some history with these things. They don't just come out of nowhere."

"So what now?"

Dean stood up. "Let's start out by talking with the scene shop."

& & & & &

Nate poured over the latest drawings. The scene shop was behind in schedule and Max, the Technical Director, was not going to be pleased. But losing Chris had been hard and Steve still hadn't managed to fit in well since his arrival. Not that it was easy to come in mid-season and try to get along with people who had already bonded, but Nate still needed a working scene shop.

Don't know what to do?  
Hey, pal-  
I mean you-  
yeah.C'mere and kill a president

Nate couldn't help but grin. Sara was the only other person he knew who liked Sondheim as much as he did. He'd have to dig in his collection for Into the Woods later.

He looked up as he saw the door open and two guys about his own age step inside.

John and Steve were working on a flat in the back of the shop, so Nate stepped away from the drawings. "Can I help you?"

"Hi. I'm Sam and this is Dean. Were journalism students up at the University of Oklahoma. We're interested in doing a story on the deaths from this summer."

The noise in the back of the shop stopped, letting the lyrics from below echo through the silence.

Hey, pal, don't despair-  
You wanna shoot a president?  
c'mon and shoot a president...

Sam looked at Dean and Dean shrugged slightly. Nate knew they probably had no idea what kind of music was playing.

"Hey John," Nate called back. "Go ask Sara to turn the music off for a bit."

John left the back and headed down towards the cellar. Nate turned back to the intruders, feeling dread build up in his stomach. "What exactly do you think you're going to find?" he asked.

"We're hoping to write a story on what has happened out here this summer," Dean explained.

"What happened was terrible," admitted Nate. "But it has just been a tragic series of events. There's really not much to write that hasn't already made it into the papers."

"But we'd still like to find out what we can," continued Sam. "Maybe someone has heard something that can help identify what happened to those people."

Nate tried to ignore the shot a fear he felt when thinking about the screams he'd heard the night of each attack. The best thing was to get these guys away from here before they asked too many unanswerable questions. "Look, you can't do this here. This is a working scene shop and we're behind. If you want to talk with people away from the shop, that's fine, but don't bother anyone here."

The boys agreed and left the shop, leaving the crew tense. Nate turned to his guys. "Okay everyone. I'm going to go track down Max and let him know we've got some college students sniffing around our work site. No one is to talk to them in the shop. Let's get these flats finished and over to the auditorium before dinner tonight."

& & & & &

"He knows something," Dean sated as he and his brother walked back towards the motel.

"Yeah, but what? And how are we supposed to find out if we can't talk to the people in the shop?"

"Well, there's always the actors. What was the name of that second girl?"

"Stacy," said Sam, pulling out a list from his pocket. "She was killed just over a week ago."

"Why don't we head over to the rehearsals and see if we can find someone who's a bit more willing to talk."

The auditorium was cold and dark after being in the bright sunshine from outside. Sam and Dean waited in the back quietly, knowing they would be kicked out for interrupting a rehearsal.

After a few minutes of watching rehearsals, a woman in the back called. "Okay everyone. That's it for act II. We've got a fifteen minute break before everyone needs to be back here." There were some groans and mutters from the crowd. "Smoke 'em if you've got 'em."

Dean tapped Sam on the arm as he began to follow a group of actors outside to where he assumed they would 'smoke 'em'.

They went back into the sweltering heat to see a group of people draped across the steps and leaning against the building. A box of cigarettes was being passed around. They stayed just outside the door, Dean sitting on the steps near a pretty blond and Sam leaning against the wall.

"God, I can't stand Debbie!" complained the blond. "She is such a Diva."

"Yeah," agreed another. "Why couldn't _she _have gotten herself killed instead of Stacy? At least Stacy was cool."

"Or even Zach," said one of the guys. "He's always fawning so much over Debbie that it makes me sick."

"Well, I think it's all down right creepy," said the first girl. "All these people getting killed by some random animal."

"Is that what they're saying it is?" asked Dean.

The crowd looked at Dean and Sam as if seeing them for the first time. "Just who are you?" asked the blond.

"I'm Dean and this is Sam. We're journalism students from the University of Oklahoma."

"Are you looking for a story about the attacks? You think there's something to all this?"

"Don't you?" asked Sam.

No one answered for a moment, each looking to the others for what to say. The door by Sam opened and a head poked out. "Everybody back inside!"

Amidst groans and stamping of cigarettes, the actors piled back in. The blond was the last to go in. "Look, I don't know what's going on, but I think it's weird. Before coming out here I was told that my biggest concern would be armadillos getting under my car. I can tell you that none of us really know anything about what's going on and we've been talking about it for a couple of weeks. If you want answers, go talk to Nate in the scene shop."

"Why? Has he said something to you?"

She shook her head. "No, but he hasn't seemed surprised every time they'd told us someone else has died."

TBC

Thank you to all my reviewers! I wouldn't have gotten the next chapter out as quickly without you. I'm pleased that everyone seems to be enjoying the story so far.

Reo- I am so honored to be your first review. It just made my day.

Greywolf Lupous – I'm from the hot sticky south and my relatives in CA don't understand until they get here just how icky it can be.

Saynt Jimmy – Nope, it's not a whumper. Although I have to admit I'm not even sure what that is.

Mary – Tell me about it. I like a good romance every now and again, but it's nice to just read a story that's about the evil bad guys and not about the next pretty girl.

Is anyone interested in a hint to finding out what is plaguing OK? I can give a hint without giving away the monster if anyone wants to try their luck in finding it.


	3. Chapter 3

Title: Screams in the night

Author: Arianna Castellis

Spoilers: Up to _Dead in the Water_

Rating: T (or PG-13)

Disclaimer: Supernatural belongs to WB. I'm making no money off this, which is sad because I have none.

Beta: moonfairyhime was kind enough to beta this for me. She was not only helpful but amazingly fast! Thanks so much for the help!

Chapter Three

Dean and Sam managed to corner Nate that evening as he was headed into Ken's Pizza. He reluctantly led them to a back booth, indicating they should sit down. It was a small restaurant and dimly lit allowing the booth in the back to yield some small privacy.

"Look, we know you have some idea of what's going on," Dean started.

Nate shook his head, shifting in the booth nervously. "No, I don't really know anything. Certainly not anything that would help you with your story. I'm just as confused as everyone else."

Dean leaned in across the table, feeling some of his frustration rise to the surface. "Look, we've been talking to some of the other people here and they have pointed us to you. Word is, you aren't surprised when a body turns up. That tells me you know something."

"I don't know anything," Nate insisted again. "I've just figured out that whenever I…notice… someone missing, it's because someone else is…has been attacked."

Sam and Dean exchanged a look. It was a look that seemed to be exchanged on many of their jobs. Dean's look was often filled with _Do you believe this guy? He obviously knows something._ While Sam's look was usually filled with _Why won't people trust what they see and hear?_ Sam wondered if people would ever understand that the _X-Files_ was not the strangest thing that existed in the world around them.

"Nate," Sam said gently, "I know that this whole situation is very upsetting, but I think you may know something, even if you don't realize it. Have you seen anything strange recently? Or seen anyone acting strange?"

"Or heard anything out of the ordinary?" added Dean. "Anything that didn't seem quite right to you?"

Nate leaned back in the booth. "I don't know. No one's acting any stranger than usual, other than being scared. But, there is one thing…"

"Yes?" prompted Sam. "We won't think it's all that strange, trust me."

"Well, that first night. The night that Chris disappeared… I couldn't sleep. I'd been drinking with the crew and wasn't having any luck sleeping in the heat. I heard…well, I thought I heard, someone scream down the hall from me. But when I went to go look down the hall, I didn't see anything or hear anything else. I just figured I was imagining things. Especially when I saw something fly by my window. It must have been an owl or something but it really freaked me out."

"What about the other nights?" inquired Dean. "Did you hear or see anything then?"

"I'm not sure. I woke up those nights swearing that I heard the same scream in my sleep, but I didn't hear or see anything else."

"What was the scream like? Was it a soulful wailing or like someone who was being hurt?" asked Sam.

"Neither," replied Nate. "All I can tell you was that the scream itself just terrified me."

& & & & &

"So what do you think?" asked Dean as he and Sam entered their hotel room. "Is Nate hearing a Banshee?"

Sam sat at the desk and booted up his computer. "I don't think so. It doesn't seem right. A banshee uses its scream to kill. It wouldn't explain why Nate had heard the scream three times and was still alive"

"Or the fact that the bodies look like they've been attacked by some animal."

"Or the fact that they are all from out of town."

"All right," acknowledged Dean. "So what other kind of creature would scream before killing?"

Sam began typing on his computer. "I don't know yet. Why don't you start checking dad's journal and I'll see what I can find."

An hour later, Sam and Dean had both come up empty. "I don't see anything in here about screaming except for Banshees."

Sam rubbed his computer worn eyes wearily. "I know. I haven't found anything searching either. And there's no indication that anything like this has happened before in this town. Or any of the neighboring towns, either."

"So, that means this…thing, whatever it is, came with the staff for summer stock."

Sam nodded in agreement. "But what are we looking for? I mean, should we be concentrating on the screams or the bodies?"

"Nate said he heard the screams from his room each time someone died, right? Why don't we go stay outside his dorm room and see if we can see something? It's been several days since the last person was attacked. There's a good chance it will strike again in the next couple of days."

"All right," agreed Sam. "But let's try to be prepared for anything."

& & & & &

The night was hot. The oppressive heat had not lifted when the sun went down and Dean wished it wasn't necessary to wear his leather jacket, but he was afraid of letting people see his guns. In such a small town, he'd be picked up for sure as soon as someone saw him carrying a weapon in the middle of the night.

Sam and Dean had situated themselves in the shadow of a row of bushes against the side of the dorm where Nate slept. The ground was lit by a half moon, bright enough to see by, but still dark enough that the shadows could conceal the brothers completely.

They had chosen the side of the dorm building that faced away from the parking lot in hopes that they wouldn't be seen and that they would manage to see something. Waiting was the worst, though. Dean was all about action. Find the bad guy, track the bad guy, and kill the bad guy. Having to wait around because they weren't sure what they had to do next made Dean anxious.

Sam glanced at his watch again. 2:27 am and no sign of anything strange. It was not going to be a good week if they had to wait outside this building every night just to see if they could see or hear anything strange.

He leaned his head against the bricks, staring at the sky, and tried not to think about anything, or rather anyone, but the current job. He was just starting to try and make out some of the constellations when he heard a scream.

Sam and Dean both sat up a little straighter and began to look around the small courtyard between dorm buildings. The scream had come from somewhere above and behind them, indicating it was originating in Nate's dorm.

After a few moments of silence, Sam felt Dean hit his arm and point towards the corner of the building. Coming around the corner was something pale that looked about the size of a basketball. Only there was something sticking out of the bottom…a stick like something…

"Oh shit!" Sam exclaimed softly. "That's…that's…"

"Shhh!" Dean whispered. "It's coming this way."

The boys crouched down as it flew overhead and through the woods towards the east side of town. Dean and Sam got up as it flew off.

"Well, I wasn't expecting that," Dean said.

"Dean, was that a floating head?"

"Yep. Looks like it," Dean answered sounding matter of fact even though his brain was trying to wrap his mind around it. Poltergeists, angry spirits, even wendigos were becoming second nature. But a screaming floating head that apparently devoured people was a new one even for him.

"Do you have any idea what that was?" Sam asked hopefully. "And how to kill it?"

Dean shrugged. "Not yet, but now I know what to look for in dad's journal."

Before Sam could answer, there was a loud bang from behind them. They whirled around to see the exit door of the dorm building open. Someone was standing in the doorway, shining a light at them so they couldn't see more than a vague outline.

"Whose there?" demanded a harsh, lisping voice. "What are you doing out here causing such a ruckus at this time of night?"

Dean began, "Um, we're students from the University of Oklah—"

"I don't care none where you're from," the voice snapped. "I don't want no strangers around here. Now get off school property or I'm calling the cops, ya hear?"

"Yes sir," Sam said, tugging on Dean's jacket sleeve. "Sorry to have disturbed you."

They began to walk back towards the parking lot to head towards the motel. The guy with the flashlight followed them to the edge of the lot, forcing the boys to stay quiet.

Once in the relative safety of the deserted street, Dean said, "What was that? You didn't even let me talk to that guy, whoever he was."

"Dean, there was a floating head screaming into the night a few minutes ago. Do you really want to be able to be recognized when another dead body turns up tomorrow?"

"Good point," acknowledged Dean. "I guess it's better to stay low right now."

"Yeah. Let's go back to the motel and see what we can find out."

TBC


End file.
